Anne Palumbo: This is our latest catchphrase? Really?!

Fasten your seatbelts, gentle readers, it is time once again for Catchphrase Corner, the cutting-edge column that identifies the moment’s trendiest words or expressions.

By Anne Palumbo

Wayne Post

By Anne Palumbo

Posted Jan. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 17, 2013 at 5:11 PM

By Anne Palumbo

Posted Jan. 17, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 17, 2013 at 5:11 PM

Rochester, N.Y.

Fasten your seatbelts, gentle readers, it is time once again for Catchphrase Corner, the cutting-edge column that identifies the moment’s trendiest words or expressions.

Are you ready to hear the catchphrase – or, “catchword” actually – that seems to have our tongues in a stronghold? Okay, deep breath, it’s a curious one: “Really?!”

Not to be confused with the sincere use of the word when combined with a question mark – e.g., He: “I like your meatloaf”; She: “Really?” – today’s popular use of the word is delivered in a highly sarcastic manner in the same breath by the same person.

Just yesterday, for example, I overheard the following use of the word in a hair salon:

“So, anyway, you won’t believe this! My daughter wants to take her boyfriend along on our ski trip. So the mom calls and wants to meet ahead of time, to, you know, check us out, make sure we’re not in the witness protection program. So we agree to meet for dinner, and, OMG, unreal, she shows up in this low-cut number that was totally inappropriate. My husband actually choked when she took her coat off. Anyway, I’m thinking, ‘And you wanted to check us out? Really? REALLY?!’”

Over the holidays, I noticed its use a lot at cocktail parties, which surprised me because, as catchphrases go, it does not have the gravitas of other, more notable words and expressions that have infiltrated our conversations of late, such as: “going viral,” “trending,” “game changer,” and “low-hanging fruit.”

Plus, I’m a bit baffled we are all “so surprised” and usually “so surprised in a highly disgusted way” by someone’s outlandish or inappropriate behavior. Hello? What have we been telling people to do for the last few years? Right, we have been goading them to “think outside the box” and “get with the program” and “man up” and “push the envelope.”

I’m also amazed we feel so comfortable spewing “really?!” in light of today’s TV viewing habits. It seems like we can’t get enough of those shocking reality shows where wives are swapped, singers are demeaned, Kardashians are tracked, and rednecks are revered. Talk about human behavior that warrants a bona-fide “really?!” Talk about ironic!

Nonetheless, and on a very positive note, I see the popularity of this word as a good thing, as it suggests we are maxing out on outrageous behavior. It also shows some moxie, in comparison to the tepid “whatever” that plagued our lingo a few years back.

Who knows what our next response to something that strikes us as inappropriate will be? Perhaps a word that falls between “really?!” and “whatever” will surface. Rest assured, I’m on it and will redneckognize it when it crops up. I mean, recognize it. Hey, I do not watch “Honey Boo Boo.” Really!